Heart

Dr. John Webb’s groundbreaking TAVI procedure

St. Paul’s Hospital is home to world-class researchers and physicians who work diligently to provide innovative care to patients. Dr. John Webb and his team at St. Paul’s are no exception. In 2005, Dr. Webb and his team developed the first routinely successful percutaneous valve replacement, and have since then provided more than 500 patients here at St. Paul’s with a renewed ability to live their lives to the fullest. The TAVI procedure (transcatheter aortic valve implanation) uses a replacement valve that is threaded up to the heart using a special catheter inserted into the patient’s artery, just above the leg. Ideal for patients with conditions that exclude them from being good candidates for open-heart surgery, the procedure is available on a limited basis and is minimally invasive.

Dr. Webb is not only breaking new ground with his medical procedure, but also in the way he teaches others how to conduct this procedure. From offering three-day courses locally, to travelling to all corners of the world to assist with initial cases, Dr. Webb and his team are dedicated to sharing their knowledge so that the TAVI procedure is accessible to all of those who qualify for it. The Virtual Teaching Laboratory (VTL) was launched in 2011, and provides live feeds of the TAVI procedures at St. Paul’s to medical professionals around the world.

Interested in learning more? Click here to see the TAVI procedure that was broadcasted live to the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francisco in 2011!